Sandigan lets Cebu ex-gov Garcia travel to China

MANILA, Philippines—The Sandiganbayan on Wednesday approved the request of Cebu Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia to travel to China and attend an international conference of legislators.

In a resolution, the antigraft court’s Second Division allowed Garcia to travel from May 8 to 18 as part of a group of 12 legislators authorized by House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.

The invitation by the Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was addressed to Pangasinan Rep. Gina de Venecia.

State prosecutors had opposed the travel request on the grounds that Garcia was not specifically invited and, therefore, her presence in China was not indispensable.

But the court allowed Garcia to use the P270,000 travel bond that she posted for a trip to Arizona in the United States from April 8 to 30 this year for the new trip to China.

Garcia, a former Cebu governor, is facing graft charges stemming from the provincial government’s purchase of 24.7 hectares of beach-front property in 2008 for P98.93 million. According to the complaint against her, the property turned out be mostly underwater.

She was arraigned in March last year and has denied allegations of any impropriety in the deal.

Meanwhile, former Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson has also asked the court’s Third Division to allow him to travel to Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore from May 11 to 19.

Singson, who was governor of Ilocos Sur province from 1998 to 2001, is facing three counts of graft for allegedly using P24.18 million of the province’s tobacco excise tax share to bankroll unspecified projects of a private food processing company.